217th post...yeah....no.

(08-31-2011. Well, I DID say I was going to post the bad with the good....)

216th lesson... know when to say when...

(08-30-2011. Yep.  I didn't. I liked the hair, the face, but I should have stopped without the shading. That was a bit much.)

215th post... sleepy baby....

(08-29-2011. Most of the time I start out sketching something with absolutely NO idea of what I'm going to sketch until approximately 3 seconds before I sketch it. And I have no idea HOW I'm going to sketch it. The formula for sketching something went out the window almost 200 sketches ago. There are times, though, when I start sketching, and a picture forms... not an actual picture of what I'm sketching, obviously, since it hasn't been done yet, but a picture in my head of the lines... and where I'd seen that type of line before. This sketch  started out with the left then the right eyebrow, and by the time I started in on the right eye... it reminded me of a book that I'd read when I was probably ten. I believe it was a Ripley's believe it or Not book...Or Rudyard Kipling. Either way it had a black cover... but the sketches of people looked like what was forming at the end of my pen. So I had to ask myself, was my subconscious making the pen work the way it did because of the pictures in the book? Or did my subconscious just have an "oh, cool!" moment, invite me along, then ignore the similarities? Hmmmm.)

214th post: Challenge Movement....

(08-28-2011. Today's challenge was movement... I went for the obvious... stick your head out a window and what do you see? Yep. Pretty much a blur of everything. And not much totally clear. So I broke it down to basic shapes.)

213th post... all about asymmetry

(08-27-2011. Nothing is symmetrical. Scratch that.  Nothing that's not man made is symmetrical. Witness the human face. Something on one side is always a tiny bit higher/lower/bigger/smaller than the other side. Try taking a photo of yourself and flip one side over and match it up.  Doesn't look like you, huh?)

212th post... imperfect and liking it....

(08-27-2011. Yup. Imperfect. But certainly less sterile than the previous [more perfect] drawing. The lines are a heckuvalot more fun!)

Playing with line thickness

(08-25-2011. Two pens, one line. Am I satisfied with this experiment?  Yes, and no. I think the thickness helped convince us of the weight of her face.  But on the other hand, focusing too hard on switching the pens I stopped letting it be loose, and it tightened up.) C'est la vie. We learn.